Bioprocess plant design and economic analysis of an environmentally friendly insect controller agent produced with Azadirachta indica cell culture

• Published in: Biochemical engineering journal 2020-07, Vol.159, p.107579, Article 107579
• Main Authors: Benavides-López, Santiago, Oviedo-Ramírez, Juan, López-Taborda, Juan-David, Martínez-Mira, Anny, Vásquez-Rivera, Andrés, Hoyos-Sánchez, Rodrigo, Orozco-Sánchez, Fernando
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bioinsecticide; Bioprocess engineering; Bioprocess feasibility; Neem; Plant cell culture
• ISSN: 1369-703X; 1873-295X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bej.2020.107579

•Insect controller agent produced biotechnologically with Azadirachta indica cell culture.•Bioprocess plant design and economic analysis of a botanic insect controller agent.•Analysis of capital investment and manufacturing cost of the product.•Minimum selling price of three different product formulations. Chemical pesticides cause serious problems to the environment, as well as human and animal health. A conceptual design and economic analysis was carried out for a hypothetical factory in order to produce an environmentally friendly insect controller agent from Azadirachta indica cell culture. The proposed factory is composed of a series of bioreactors that can produce 60.0 kg of active compound/batch. This designed plant had a capacity of 136 batches/year, which represents 40,800 kg of bioinsecticide, and it was located in Medellin (Colombia) with a total building cost of 12.2 million USD. Three bioinsecticide formulations, two equipment costs and variation in product/substrate yields were analyzed. To achieve profitability in the project, the minimum selling price of the formulated products was calculated between 76.9–330.0 USD/kg (Net Present Value > 0). This is the first report of a bioprocess factory design and economic analysis for an insect controller agent using plant cell culture.